


Nothing Personal

by BashfulTenrec



Category: The New Legends of Monkey (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Post-Season/Series 01, Tripkey, the cloud has a personality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-14 04:26:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15380616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BashfulTenrec/pseuds/BashfulTenrec
Summary: "Relax, little monk. Just a god warming up his human. Nothing personal."





	Nothing Personal

 

It had to be hidden in one of the hundreds of caves on the coldest mountain ranges in the world. Of course it did. Monkey probably thought he would be back for the scroll soon and didn’t factor in 500 years of storms and avalanches changing the landscape.  He also probably thought it would be easily retrieved on the cloud.

Too bad the cloud was being fickle and refusing to answer his summons lately.

"At least the house is here,” Sandy commented mildly. “Although one does wonder where the original occupants have gone."

The group had set up a temporary home in a modest cabin at the foot of the tallest mountain. It didn't appear to have had any occupants in a while, although there was evidence that whoever had lived there hadn't tidied up before they had left. Regardless, the travelers considered it a blessing that the house was stocked with plenty of firewood and preserved food to last for a long while and had enough beds for them all.

It had been two weeks scouring the mountainside and peering into the number of caves and caverns, but still no sacred scroll. The group was beginning to grow frustrated at the search, particularly Monkey.

"I know it was this mountain," he repeatedly groused as he trudged through the snow. Tripitaka rolled her eyes and adjusted her new gloves.  She had taken a special trip to the nearest village to purchase their warmest sets of clothes to prepare for their long search.  The gods hadn’t bothered apart from an extra cloak or two; apparently the cold didn’t affect them much.  “If the cloud would just answer me already I would’ve gathered the other scrolls by now.  I don’t know why it’s acting like this.”  Tripitaka did her best to not use the crown sutra on him to make him stop trying to make excuses or complain. It didn't make the cloud or the scroll magically appear.

To cover the most ground (since the cloud had apparently decided not to help) the group had split up. Tripitaka had elected to search with Monkey today and was starting to regret it by the time afternoon rolled around.  She even wished he would return to ceaselessly bragging about his exploits lifetimes ago instead of griping.  When he made a snide comment about the slow pace Tripitaka was forced to set due to her "short, human" legs, she finally snapped.

“Just stop complaining already!” Tripitaka shouted, fists clenched at her side. Monkey went still and raised an eyebrow at her stiff posture and set of her jaw. “We’ll find the scroll just like last time, just be patient. I’m frustrated too but you’re the one who’s been annoying me the most and I’m sick of your complaining.  Either talk about anything else or don’t talk to me at all.” Monkey’s nose did that twitch when he was trying to hide his embarrassment and didn’t say anything. He finally settled on thumping his staff into the snow and, with a short jerk of his hair, abruptly turned to walk ahead of Tripitaka in a huff. 

She sighed, trying to let go of the built up tension she'd been holding in lately.  She hated fighting with Monkey.  It was like shouting at a child.  Monkey had never specified how old he actually was, but she figured age to an immortal god was just a number and that gods matured at different rates than humans.  Going by his normal behavior he was probably around her age, although for today he was more like a toddler.  For now she just enjoyed the quiet, even if it was tense.

\---

Monkey declared the next promising cavern too shallow for what he remembered, but Tripitaka insisted on searching it just in case the scroll had been moved. It didn’t escape Tripitaka’s notice that Monkey was determinedly sulking at the mouth of the cavern the entire time she examined the rocks and snow inside.  She gave him a wide berth when she finally emerged empty handed, and he poked holes in the snow with his staff, his silence deafening. He probably wasn’t going to apologize, although Tripitaka missed their easy banter.

The wind picked up over the next couple of hours, and Tripitaka pulled her scarf around her face, squinting at Monkey's back. The sky started to grow darker. Coming from more temperate parts of the world, she wasn't sure if the speed at which this storm was picking up was natural or not. Regardless she wanted to keep Monkey in sight at all times. Suddenly, she stumbled, foot sinking into a particularly deep patch of snow.  A nasty crosswind knocked her off balance and she pitched forward. Looking up she realized she couldn’t see Monkey anywhere.

"Monkey!" her voice was almost slammed back into her throat by the wind. "Monkey!" She ran forward a few steps, her legs becoming clumsy from fighting the force of the storm. If she just kept running straight she'd find him, right?

A sharp crack to her skull and the dark snow rushed up to catch her.

\---

Throbbing pain was her first greeting, and then a chill that ran straight to her bones. The only sound she could hear was her own shivered breaths. Tripitaka peeled her eyes open and realized she wasn't in the cabin or out on the mountain.

She was buried up to her waist in a spherical boulder of ice. Her hands, thankfully free, couldn't put a scratch in the surface of her prison. Looking around she beheld the inside a cavern made entirely of ice and snow. She glanced up, startled when her head abruptly tapped against a smooth, unyielding wall of cold. The icicle encrusted ceiling was supported by pillars of clear, dark ice. If she were here under different circumstances, where she could explore or even move her numb legs, she might find it all beautiful.

"Monkey?" She tried calling out, her voice trembling. "Sandy? Pigsy?"

It was then she saw there were other boulders like hers scattered around the cavern. Some of the pillars had bodies inside. There was a smaller boulder not too far away with a gnawed-on leg frozen in the middle.

A pair of glowing yellow eyes flashed from around a pillar and she screamed.

\---

Tripitaka wasn't behind him. Monkey spun around in a full circle, keen ears straining to hear through the layers of the storm for any signs of her. He began retracing his steps, relying on his staff to steady himself from the wind that threatened to knock him off his feet. Why does Tripitaka always vanish on him, doesn’t she know not to do that by now? He tried shouting a few times for her but gave up after he realized she would never be able to hear him. He did his best to fight the growing dread in his heart and stabbed the snow with his staff with more force than necessary. Why does he always lose track of her? If he had paid more attention and not ignored Tripitaka after their spat she might still be here and not gallivanting off in a snowstorm. The wind blasted into his face and he grimaced. Now the cold was beginning to annoy him, and if it was annoying him, who knows how a fragile little human body would be faring.

And then the tiniest sound made him stop. One small, high note that managed to make it to his ears over the storm, carried to him by chance. He now had a direction, purpose, and weeks’ worth of frustrations to vent it on whatever stole away his little monk.

\---

The only thing it did was watch her, waiting. Waiting for her body to give out from fighting the icy prison. The demon was paler than death, vaguely human-shaped covered in a short coat of dense fur. Its muted features were thrown into relief by the glow of those pale yellow eyes that never blinked.

It stayed in a beast-like hunched over position, peering at her, never moving aside from flexing its long claws, scratching at the floor. Tripitaka cringed at the sound.

"My friend is the Monkey King," Tripitaka managed to bite out through chattering teeth. "He might spare your life if you let me go." She highly doubted that, but it was worth a try. The snow demon was unmoved.

The ice was settling into her very bones and she realized the demon probably didn't have long to wait before her small body succumbed to the cold. She could already feel her thoughts getting sluggish and she had a fresh burst of muted panic. Thrashing weakly against the ice, she slammed her head back, crying out as her skull erupted in a fresh burst of agony against the unforgiving wall of ice.

The demon finally blinked and slowly crept towards her.

"Stay. Back!" Tripitaka managed to keep the shivers out of her voice and her hands scrambled to get a grip when she tried again to wriggle herself free.

It continued to close the gap between them, head tilting to the side, a fringe of longer fur framing the wrinkled face. Its bare hands and feet didn't make any imprints on the snowy ground.

"I'm w-warning you," Tripitaka growled. It held up a hand, a single long talon pointing lazily at her throat, and Tripitaka gasped as she felt her body being drawn further into the ice. Ice crystals formed faster than she could blink. Soon her entire range of motion, small as it was, stopped. The only part of her exposed to air was the front of her head and her hands. The demon slowly backed away to its perch, never taking its eyes off of her.

Tripitaka had never been claustrophobic, but panic was taking over and she did the only thing she could and screamed.  Her hands struggled against her bonds, and she gasped at the sting of ice crystals sinking their fangs further into her wrists.

\---

Monkey wasn't sure what he was expecting to see but it wasn't this. The cavern he was prowling was visually impressive for sure but his gut was telling him that something sinister was here that made it different from all the other caves they had searched so far. He did his best to silence the echoing crunch of the ice under his feet and adjusted his grip on his staff.

He rounded a gentle bend and glanced at a particularly dark sheet of ice in the cavern wall, something about it catching his eye. He squinted closer and realized it was the faint outline of a sacred scroll buried deep within the ice. He grinned. Finally. It would take some time to excavate, but at least now he knew where it was. He couldn't wait to find Tripitaka to show her. Maybe it would make up for his behavior earlier and they’d go back to being friends again.

\---

Tripitaka knew she should still be terrified of the snow demon watching her die but her foggy mind didn't have the energy to care anymore. Her heartbeats were slowing but she was grateful, because each beat felt like a stab to the chest. She was just so, so tired. Monkey would find her soon. He'd find the second scroll in no time. He'd show it to Pigsy and Sandy and his face would light up with his smug grin. They'd laugh or groan at his antics and he'd flip his hair arrogantly, still smiling. Her heart warmed at the thought and with a smile she drifted off to sleep.

\---

Continuing on, the cavern opened up further and Monkey snarled at the sight, his staff crackling with magic.

A snow demon was inches away from Tripitaka's bowed head, examining its immobilized prey closely. It snapped its eerie gaze to Monkey just before he closed the gap between them and smashed his staff across its skull with another snarl, knocking it across the cavern. It was over before it really began, the demon’s smoky remains already vanished. Any itch for a good knock-down drag-out brawl vanished as soon as he saw Tripitaka and how unnervingly still she was. With the demon dead, much of its magic had vanished too, the clear ice pillars and cages collapsing to snowdrifts instantly. Tripitaka lay crumpled in the remains of her prison.

"Tripitaka!" he called out, voice cracking.  He crashed down in the pile of snow next to her, eyes widening at the crust of blood around her skull and bleeding, scraped wrists.  He carefully turned her over to get a proper look and his heart sank.  She was paler than Sandy and her lips had a blue tinge.  He gingerly laid a hand on her too-cold neck, and found a too-slow heartbeat to match. He muttered a curse.  Fervently hoping that his cloud wouldn’t be fickle as it had been lately, he whistled for it as he wrapped his little monk up in his cloak and gathered her in his arms.  The cloud appeared almost instantly at the entrance to the cavern and rushed towards him with an urgency he appreciated.  Tripitaka’s head flopped against his shoulder when he jumped on, scroll completely forgotten, and he reflexively held her tighter.  He crouched low over Tripitaka as the cloud carried them away, in an effort to shield her from the howling wind.  “I’ll handle this,” he muttered in Tripitaka’s ear.  But it was mostly to himself.

\---

Sandy and Pigsy jumped as the door burst open, admitting a blast of snow and wind and the Monkey King, cradling a tiny Tripitaka-shaped bundle in his arms. 

“What happened?” Pigsy asked as Sandy rushed over to examine their human.

“Snow demon took her in the storm.  It was going to eat her,” Monkey tossed over his shoulder as he shoved past them to lay the limp Tripitaka by the fire.  “The scroll was in its lair too.”  Sandy appeared holding several blankets.

“What of the demon and the scroll?”

“Demon is dead.  Scroll is still encased in ice in the cave,” Monkey replied, watching as Sandy threw the blankets over Tripitaka.  Pigsy tutted.

“Sandy, blankets won’t help if her clothes are soaked.  Tripitaka has an extra set in her pack.”

Without a word Sandy began stripping off Tripitaka’s cloaks, Pigsy stoked the fire.  Monkey retrieved Tripitaka’s spare clothes and passed them to Sandy, awkwardly keeping his eyes on the floor.  Pigsy strode over and pulled him into the other room to let Sandy work without him hovering.

Pigsy eyed his friend, who was practically vibrating with nervous energy.  “I’m sure Tripitaka will be fine.  You got her back here in time and we’ll get the scroll.” Monkey didn’t seem affected by his words at all. “What’s really bothering you?”

Monkey’s face went from worry to fury and back to fear in seconds as he paced around the room.  Pigsy held back a sarcastic comment and waited. Monkey took longer to process feelings than everyone else.

“Monkey…”

“We fought. Earlier today.” Pigsy stared at Monkey. “She was angry at me.”

“Did you deserve it?” Pigsy couldn’t help himself.  Monkey glared at a pebble on the floor and kicked at it.

“Probably.  Yes,” he grudgingly amended after receiving a judgmental look.  “I ignored her afterwards and then she was just… gone. I don’t… want a fight to be the last thing…”

“Monkey.” Pigsy cut him off. “Everyone’s tempers have been flaring while we’ve been on this blasted mountain. Your squabble, whatever it was about, is not going to be your last memory of Tripitaka because she’s not going to die.  Humans die easily but I have every confidence she’ll be back to yelling at you in no time and then promptly forgive you because that’s what she does. She probably forgave you immediately after your little tiff but didn’t say anything because you were being an ass.”

Monkey perked up slightly at this.

“But you should still apologize,” Pigsy swiftly added. “You have until she’s woke up to come up with something at least halfway decent.”

\---

Were their situations reversed, Sandy wouldn’t have cared if the other gods were around to see anything, but Tripitaka was a modest girl, despite not needing to guard her secret any longer.  She would want to be as private as possible.

When she was easing off the last soaked undershirt, Tripitaka’s hand flew up and grabbed Sandy’s and she made a panicked sound.

“Where’s…?”

“Monkey and Pigsy are in the other room.  We’re alone, Tripitaka, you’re safe,” Sandy informed her calmly, gently pulling her icy hand away.   

“D-don’t let them see…” Tripitaka whispered.  Her eyes looked like they weren’t focused properly.  “Monkey can’t find out I’m not the real Tripitaka.  He’d leave the quest.  I need him…” her voice trailed off, brow furrowed in concentration.  Sandy sat back and stared quizzically at her, choosing her next words carefully.

“Tripitaka, Monkey won’t abandon the quest.  Or you.  None of us will.”

But Tripitaka’s eyes had squeezed shut and her body curled into a tight ball facing away from the fire.  “He... can’t… know…”

Sandy watched her for a moment as she tried to process what Tripitaka was thinking.  She gave up, finished dressing her in dry clothes before starting to clean up the dried blood around Tripitaka’s thankfully minor wounds. When finished she tucked the blankets around Tripitaka before silently returning to the other gods.

"Well?" Monkey was on edge. Sandy drew herself up.

"She believes you don't know that she's not a boy monk."

"But we do know that. How could she forget?"

"Monkey, she's confused," Pigsy said patiently. "When she's better she'll remember properly but for now, just don't talk about it."

"What do we do now?" Monkey was annoyed of the talking and needed action, as always. He kept glancing over their shoulders, his attention clearly elsewhere.

"Give it time and wait until she warms up, I suppose. You stay with her. The storm is pretty quiet now so Sandy, you and I will get the scroll. Monkey gave us a direction."

"Try not to upset her if she comes round again," Sandy breezily said with a glance to Monkey. "You're known for that."

Monkey dismissively scoffed at her but was already pushing past them into the next room, trying to shove down the memory of Tripitaka shouting at him.

\---

Tripitaka vaguely heard soft voices but couldn't pick out the words. Everything felt hazy and unfocused but mostly so, so cold. She was dimly aware of a fire beside her and blankets around her, but neither were putting a scratch on the icy clawhold the snow had around her. The demon was waiting just a few feet away, waiting for her heart to stop so it could feast. She could feel its eyes boring into her back, waiting.

Fear loosened her tongue and she let out a whimper. Her shoulders spasmed, trying again to shiver.

"Hell with this," a voice murmured softly. There were sounds of creaking leather and something thudded to the floor.

The weight of the snow lifted and she was maneuvered into a half sitting position and her heart jolted painfully before arms wrapped around her, melting the hold the ice had on her. So warm… And familiar?

"Hi."

Monkey. Tripitaka heart stopped again. He couldn't be this close he'd find out-

"N-no stop," she tried to say forcefully and feebly lurched away before Monkeys arms tightened, holding her fast in a steel grip. His chin rested lightly on her head.

"Relax, little monk. Just a god warming up his human. Nothing personal."

How did he not notice? Regardless the sudden movements and weak attempt to escape had spent what little energy she had left and she slumped back against his warm chest, and didn't try fight the exhaustion dragging her back down.

\---

It was very personal.

He was all bluster, he knew, but he was trying to say anything to make the confused Tripitaka not have a panic attack when he had pulled her into his lap. He had been debating over what to do and what would be considered appropriate for a human girl until her face had twisted in fear and she had let out that soft, awful sound. That made up his mind to shed his armor and wrap her up in his arms as fast as he dared.

It wasn't long until she started shivering again, her small frame wracked with painful looking shakes. Monkey held her the entire time, watching the fire and listening to her quiet breaths. He tried to keep his mind occupied by rehearsing what he would say to Tripitaka once she woke up to apologize for being such an ass these past weeks, but grew frustrated at himself. He instead settled on alternating between imagining all the various ways he could have killed the snow demon and remembering how Tripitaka looked sleeping peacefully as opposed to her face creased with exhaustion and residual terror. 

The tremors eventually slowed and then stopped, and Tripitaka's entire body quieted into a deeper sleep. Monkey still didn't let go. He liked the feeling of her weight leaning up against his chest and the reminder she was close and safe. Not to make it into a competition as he normally did, but he personally felt he had been more afraid of losing his little monk than she had been afraid during her captivity with the snow demon. He'd keep this to himself, naturally. Besides, it might make her angry with him again to compare traumas and that was the last thing he wanted. He idly reached up with his free hand and very gently ran his fingertips through her short hair and was pleased with both the soft texture and that she was significantly warmer than before. He found himself hoping she'd permit him to pet her head again when she was properly awake.

Figuring Tripitaka was out of danger now that she was truly asleep, he carefully laid her down flat and tucked a pillow under her head, stealing another run of his hand along her hair. He considered what he should do next. Should he stay awake? But sleep was important too.

Well.

If Tripitaka became distressed during the night he needed to be close enough to hear her, right?

Surely she wouldn't mind if he stayed close. She also needed to stay warm. It made sense.

He immediately curled up beside her once again, pulling a blanket over them both, and let her soft breaths relax him into sleep.

\---

The first thing she was aware of was the feeling of being trapped again but this time there was no ice or fear. Then she felt a warm mass that her back was pressed up against. Tripitaka opened her eyes to see the cabin's interior and looked down and noticed a familiar muscled arm slung around her middle.

 _Oh_.

Monkey was making a habit of curling up next to her during the night. Of all his habits it was certainly not her least favorite.

She slowly eased herself up despite the screams of her aching body. The hours of shivering must have tired her out. Then she noticed that her clothes had been changed and her wounds had been dressed, probably by Sandy. 

And then she realized with dread that Monkey had no shirt on and flushed with embarrassment.

Monkey chose that moment to stir, arm curling around nothing, and he sat up quickly. His eyes lit on her and he looked her up and down quickly before he ran a hand through his hair.

Tripitaka leaned away and tucked her knees to her chest, looking at the floor. She could feel her face flushing. Monkey reached over and lightly pressed his hand to her head. Tripitaka wanted to disappear into the floor.

"What?" He was looking at her like she was a puzzle to solve.

"It's just um.." Tripitaka was determined to keep her eyes on the threads of the blanket and not on how nice Monkey looked shirtless. How does one explain to a god about this? Monkey raised his eyebrows.

"Oh do you still believe I don't know you're a girl? Is that why you're acting strange?" Tripitaka couldn't help but laugh at that. He really didn't understand and for that she was grateful nothing had changed between them.

"I vaguely remember saying that," she admitted. "The cold confused me. But I'm better now. Thank you. For what you did."

The corners of his mouth played in a smile for a split second before he tamped it down into his dismissive face and checked his hair again.

"Right, well, the demon won't be kidnapping any humans anymore. You don't need to worry about that."

“Did you have fun ensuring that?” Tripitaka asked dryly.  He probably felt better after directing all his pent up aggression into demonic pest control.

Monkey sniffed, his posture deflating ever so slightly.  “It would have been more satisfying if you weren’t dying a few feet away, Tripitaka. Especially after…”He exhaled sharply and forced himself to meet her eyes.  “Especially after the way I’d been acting.” He quickly looked away again.

Tripitaka smiled softly, and reached over to lay a hand on his shoulder. His eyes darted quickly to her hand, then to her face. 

“Apology accepted.” His mouth quirked into a grin. He hesitantly reached up and ruffled her hair and she leaned into the familiar gesture with a giggle.  His grin got even wider.

Sandy and Pigsy appeared in the doorway.

"Tripitaka! You're awake!" Sandy wrapped her in a hug before Pigsy came over and crushed them both in his arms.

"And to make it even better, ta-da!" Pigsy pulled a scroll from behind him. "Took a while to make it to that cave. Even longer to get it out."

"The ice had grown around it, 500 years' worth," Sandy added as Tripitaka eagerly examined the relic. "That might be what drew the snow demon to make that particular cave its home."

"We also buried the other victims." Pigsy said with less enthusiasm as he had with revealing their prize. "All good here?"

"Yup." Tripitaka smiled at him. "Thank you for getting this." He patted her shoulder.

"I'll make breakfast." Sandy stood up to follow and leaned towards his ear and Tripitaka strained to hear her hissed words.

"I told you he would curl up to her like a stray cat. Again."

Monkey pretended not to hear Pigsy's guffaw.


End file.
